Amentep

http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/20.../barreleye.html Monteray Bay Aquarium Research Institute has been studying a deep sea fish with a transparent head!

Yeah they've had some games better than others; hopefully DA will click on all cylinders.

If the nearest big city was bombed, I'd be in the outer damage circle at Mk28; I'm in the second inner ring with a Tsar Bomba, in the initial blast radius with a B61 and an Asteroid impact takes out the entire state. IIRC a physics professor said that the radiation from the smallest bombs would still probably kill us where we lived.

That's DARTH BEAN to you, Taks. I've always wondered - did Darth Bean accidentally headbutt the Emperor during a "meet and greet"?

I enjoyed it and like Oerwinde I've liked all of the Bioware games I've played. I wouldn't say its the greatest game in the world, but I did enjoy it.

I agree about the two tiers, but I think that Richard is not "powerful". He knows what he has to do and does it, he has no ambition beyond that. Maybe he is the default leader of the Others when there is no leader, being immortal helps too. Weird thought - maybe Alpert is ultimately to the island what Abadon was for Widmore - the guy who helped people get to where they need to be?

Nah Nah! That's very unmanly. Not if you punch hard enough. So hard the superfluous "X" chromosome breaks into a "Y"?

We do sometimes fall into unnecessary hand-wringing over such things.

Alpert could be evil. I won't discount that possibility. And all THREE could be evil too. Jacob could be evil as well.

Then what purpose does the review actually have? If a review is just a schlub writing or entertainment, then is it terribly useful to the reader as anything other than entertainment in and of itself?

I think that both Ben and Widmore are evil, to be honest. I think Alpert is Neutral. May change that evaluation later on.

Well I'd guess it'd be so that people who've come to expect to see other people around don't assume said person fell off the face of the earth.

Are reviews entertainment or sources of reasoned, expert opinion? I'd imagine the answer to that question would lead us to find a divide between those who expect casual vs formal in the writing style.

Mass Effect again be what I'm playing.

I doubt they're taking credit so much as IGN is giving them credit. At least Chris Avellone was thanked in the BG manual IIRC...

Amazing is one word, yes. Stupid is another. lol. Or it blows them several feet away. I do head shots any way so its possible. I liked it when I dumped a bunch of points into non-physical stats creating the proverbial 110 lb weakling scientist type and in the opening escape hit a VATS critical with a bat on a guard, causing him to fly in the air as if punched by Superman. It was awesome.

I probably didn't notice the humour in Zork because I was too busy being frustrated by the puzzles.

I really liked Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders back in the day even though I never could beat them. And I really enjoyed the jokes in Grim Fandango which I also never beat. I'm sensing a trend here... :|

It was a lucky, rebounding shot.

*Heavily*? Really? JE is a piece of crap with a very superficial 'it's not really ancient China, it's really our own mythology but influenced by Chinese mythology but not really Chinese mythology' layer that's otherwise just standard mediocre Bioware shovelware. Its your right to think the game was crap, but denying that Jade Empire pulled from those influences is a bit like saying that Dungeons and Dragons has no relation to Tolkein's work, Jack Vance's Dying Earth, or Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Heck the first Master Li novel is subtitled "A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was" and if that isn't a starting point for the development of Jade Empire, I don't know what is. J.E is nothing sort of being influenced by Wuxia novels at all. Had you read one written by a Louis Cha (Jing Yong) before? If you had, you would perhaps change your mind in regards of the influence inspired. The man's regarded as the person who creates and influences the modern wuxia novels of the 20th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Cha His known famous works: -Legend of the Condor Heroes -Return of the Condor Heroes -The Deer and the Couldron -The smiling Wandering Swordsman -Heaven Sword, Dragon Saber -Demi-Gods, Semi-Devils JE is simply a typical Western Fantasy story that simply happends to have face lift and name changes to fit into an Eastern setting. Which in the end results a setting that is nothing sort of being inspired from Wuxia or Kung Fu movies. To put it straight, its simply a Eastern setting that tries to emulate a Western's cliches. Simply by looking at the plot's theme of typical good vs evil, such plots are not heavily emphasised in Wuxia novels at all. Wuxia novels tend to focus more on Patriotism, the setting of Jiang Hu, development of Heroism, and reflections of eastern values . So even if Bioware did try to be influenced by Wuxia novels in the creation of JE, its obviously they had taken it from a ****ty source instead from Jing Yong. Er...yeah. First off being "based on" does not mean "recreating in its entirety". Second, I agree that for the most part they took surface details from wuxia films and books rather than building a story using the themes populating those works. Third, I think that the aforementioned Master Li novels are probably a much bigger influence than wuxia; the game has much more in common to my mind to that novel series than any wuxia story. That does not mean that wuxia was not an influence. Note that influence is directional; a work is influenced by something. There is no "try to be influenced", either it is influenced or it isn't. It is correct (in perhaps more than one sense) to say that Jade Empire is not a wuxia story (whether it tried to be or not) it is not correct to say it isn't influenced by wuxia stories because clearly it was. The developers even mentioned Louis Cha's work when talking about influences on the game. Did they replicate his work in game form? No. But then again Dungeons and Dragons doesn't replicate Lord of the Rings despite a strong influence from that novel.

*Heavily*? Really? JE is a piece of crap with a very superficial 'it's not really ancient China, it's really our own mythology but influenced by Chinese mythology but not really Chinese mythology' layer that's otherwise just standard mediocre Bioware shovelware. Its your right to think the game was crap, but denying that Jade Empire pulled from those influences is a bit like saying that Dungeons and Dragons has no relation to Tolkein's work, Jack Vance's Dying Earth, or Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Heck the first Master Li novel is subtitled "A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was" and if that isn't a starting point for the development of Jade Empire, I don't know what is.

But from which mother? an Asarii girl from Liara, or a Human child from Ashley or a Human from Kaiden? Well I'm thinking a bit of Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom here where your child was based on whichever union was picked. That game gives your character two romance options at the end of the first third with the second third picking up with the Son of whichever union you took (and then the same for the third generation). The character picks up certain traits from the parents making each slightly different. So in theory they could give you either a Human or Asarii during character creation with perhaps certain "extras" offered to the child based on who the Sheppard was (for example being able to create an adept who can use Sniper Rifles if your ME-Sheppard was a Soldier) Not saying this is the way they will do it, but it could be a way to kill Sheppard, but have a main character (1st level!) who is tied to Sheppard.

Another idea they could do is that you play Sheppard son (or daughter) of Sheppard. But I think you'll be playing Sheppard.

By the time it comes out, I'm sure anyone outraged at this trailer will have heard about what is/isn't happening to Sheppard in the game.

That would be Doomsday from writer/director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) with Rhona Mitra, Sean Pertwee, Alexander Siddig, Bob Hoskins, and Malcolm McDowell. That's the one! Rhona is extremely lovely, but she does scowl all the way through the movie. There's a Vin Diesel movie on pay-per-view at the moment called Babylon AD. Mrs. Carlo likes the look of it and so do I. Has anyone seen it? If so I'd be grateful for a quick review, although the synopsis seems reminiscent of the sci-fi movie with Bruce Willis and Gary Oldfield... blimey I'm getting bad at remembering movie titles at the moment! Cheers MC Haven't seen Babylon AD - it apparently had a bit of a tortured production from what I've heard. Don't think its all that similar to The Fifth Element from what I've heard beyond some basic broad strokes.